Los Angeles Football Club vs. San Jose Earthquakes | 2020 MLS Match Preview

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 14
LAFC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
Banc of California Stadium – Los Angeles
September 27 – 10:30 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US

LOCAL TV: YouTube TV [LA region only], EstrellaTV 62, NBC Sports California

Coming off opposite sides of lopsided midweek results, LAFC host the San Jose Earthquakes Sunday night to close out Week 14 of the 2020 regular season. 

LAFC (5W-5L-3D) are coming off a 6-0 thrashing of the Vancouver Whitecaps at Banc of California Stadium Sunday, while the Earthquakes (2W-6L-5D) suffered a 5-0 defeat to the Colorado Rapids to extend a winless streak to eight games.

This is the second meeting at the Banc between the teams this year with LAFC cruising to a 5-1 win Sept. 2 with Diego Rossi scoring a brace for the hosts. In three all-time games in Los Angeles, LAFC have outscored the Quakes 11-1 in three convincing wins. 

LAFC

LAFC took out their frustrations on the Whitecaps, scoring four goals in the opening 14 minutes en route to a 6-0 victory Wednesday night at home. Bradley Wright-Phillips had a pair of goals, an own goal by Ranko Veselinovic robbing him of a hat trick. Rossi and Dejan Jakovic added a goal apiece and an Andy Rose own goal capped the shocking result.

"We started very quickly, immediately attacked down the left side, scored goals off set pieces," LAFC coach Bob Bradley said after the match. "A lot of positives, important for us to have a shutout tonight, something that we haven't had for a while. So hopefully it's a game that we can build on. But we felt good. There was a lot of moments where the football was sharp, we created good chances and we feel good about that. Now we just keep going, the games continue to come quickly."

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Carlos Vela (F) - Grade 2 MLS sprain
  • OUT: Mohamed Traore (D) - undisclosed injury
  • OUT: Tristan Blackmon (D) - undisclosed injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: None

San Jose Earthquakes

It was another blowout loss for the Quakes, who followed a 6-1 loss to the Timbers with a 5-0 defeat to the Rapids Wednesday. Matias Almeyda's squad has been outscored 28-7 in a current eight-match winless streak that has them rooted to last place in the Western Conference. 

“In difficult times, human beings often show the great misery they have within and they start to look for who to blame,” Almeyda said after the game. “This is football, it’s a team sport. The team isn’t just the most well-known players or just the XI that steps onto field. Football deserves respect, and the people who work within football deserve respect.”

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Casey Walls (D) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Guram Kashia (D) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Jacob Akanyirige (D) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Oswaldo Alanis (D) - knee injury
  • OUT: Matt Bersano (GK) - ankle injury
  • OUT: Danny Hoesen (F) - thigh injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: Florian Jungwirth (D)
• International duty:  None

Series Matchup at LAFC

• LAFC: 3 wins, 11 goals
• Earthquakes: 0 wins, 1 goal
• 0 draws

Officials

• Referee: : Ismail Elfath
• Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Ryan Graves
• 4th Official: Silviu Petrescu
• VAR: Victor Rivas